1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



haustive description of the methods of work- 

 ing out disease germs. Beginning at the 

 start he so carefully and fully explained his 

 methods of work that all felt that he thor- 

 oughly understood every detail in the inves- 

 tigation. 



Dr. White said, in part, "If your cattle 

 were being poisoned in the pasture, and your 

 neighbor's cattle were not, you would make 

 a careful survey of your neighbor's farm and 

 see what plants were growing in his pasture. 

 Then you would make an examination of 

 your own farm, and would subtract the 

 plants found in your neighbor's pasture from 

 those found in yours, and those left in your 

 own lot you would suspect as being the ones 

 causing the poisoning. It is so with the in- 

 vestigation of a disease. A germ is a plant, 

 and we study the flora of the healthy apiaiy 

 and also of the diseased apiary, and by this 

 process of elimination, and by the examina- 

 tion of a great manj^ specimens, we arrive 

 at the cause of the disease." 



The European foul brood is caused by Ba- 

 cillus alvei, described by Cheyne, and pub- 

 lished in 1885. The cause of American foul 

 brood is found to be a germ hitherto unde- 

 scribed, but called Ijy Dr. White Bacillus lar- 

 vce. To isolate this germ Dr. White used a 

 medium the foundation of which was a bouil- 

 lon made from the larvae of the bees. No 

 one else ever used this medium, and so no 

 one else ever discovered the cause of Ameri- 

 can foul brood. 



These germs are slender rod-like bodies 

 that grow in length and finally break into 

 two individuals. This division occurs every 

 30 minutes, so that, beginning with one, in 

 half an hour you will have 2; in one hour, 4; 

 in one and a half hours, 8; in two hours, 16; 

 two and a half hours, 32; three hours, 64; 

 three and a half hours, 128; and in four 

 hours, 256 individuals. When the larva dies 

 the germ goes into the spore or resting stage. 

 It begins to thicken in the center, or near one 

 end, and finally becomes a spherical body. 

 This spore form is the resistant form, and is 

 the one which we have to fight in the field. 



Dr. White then explained in detail the 

 methods used in isolating one germ and in 

 making cultures for study. He also explain- 

 ed how the different media, or soils, were 

 made, and how one germ would show a cer- 

 tain character on one medium or soil (for 

 the medium is to the germ what the soil is 

 to the plant), while another germ would show 

 an entirely diiierent character. So by tak- 

 ing many different kinds of media, and study- 

 ing each organism on each medium, it is 

 possible to identify them. 



Both American and European foul brood 

 exist in Europe. These terms were given 

 them because the European foul brood was 

 worked out by Cheyne in Europe, and Amer- 

 ican foul brood was worked out in America. 

 Many samples of pickled brood have been 

 examined, but no cause has been found for 

 it. This is also true of bee paralysis, and we 

 are still in the dark as to the cause and treat- 

 ment of these two diseases. 



Dr. Phillips then gave a detailed descrip- 



tion of American and European foul brood 

 as it appears in the field. He stated that, 

 when Cheyne made his investigations, he 

 had, according to his own statement, but one 

 specimen which was brought him by Cheshire. 

 Since both diseases exist in Europe it is quite 

 possible that the one specimen was what we 

 now call European foul brood, especially 

 since Cheyne describes the specimen as "wa- 

 tery." To the casual observer the diseases 

 bear a similai'ity in appearance. 



Dr. Phillips stated that, at the present time, 

 European foul brood exists in New York, 

 New Jersey, West Virginia, Connecticut, 

 Massachusetts, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Ohio, 

 Indiana. Illinois, and Michigan. 



The European foul brood is usually the 

 more virulent of the two diseases, but, on 

 the other hand, sometimes disappears of its 

 own accord. He then gave the history of 

 bee-disease investigations, and, taking each 

 investigator in turn, showed what was the 

 probable cause which led him to arrive at 

 his conclusions. It is interesting to note that 

 the earliest theory was that a parasitic fly 

 laid its eggs in the body of the diseased larva. 



Dr. Phillips then announced three publica- 

 tions of the Bureau of Entomology: Techni- 

 cal Series, No. 14; " The Bacteria of the Api- 

 ary, with Special Reference to Bee Diseases, ' ' 

 by Dr. G. F. White; Circular No. 79. "The 

 Brood Diseases of Bees," by Dr. E. F. Phil- 

 lips; and a reprint from Bulletin No. 61, 

 Bureau of Entomology, entitled " State and 

 Teri'itorial Laws Relative to Foul Brood." 



Mr. N. E. France, the veteran bee-disease 

 inspector of America, then read a paper, the 

 "History of Bee-disease Inspection in Wis- 

 consin." This paper was one of the gems of 

 the meeting. Mr. France stated that many 

 apiaries where foul brood once existed, after 

 having been treated, were the means of pay- 

 ing off the mortgage on the farm, or of build- 

 ing a new home for the owner. Other api- 

 aries under different care, though once prof- 

 itable, are now entirely wiped out or reduced 

 to a few colonies. 



Dr. Phillips read a paper from Mr. Charles 

 Stewart, of New YorK, and also one from 

 Mr. Fred Parker, of Lompoc, California. 

 Both papers were valuable and interesting, 

 and both clearly demonstrated the value of 

 thorough and careful work on the part of the 

 inspector. 



Mr. J. M. Rankin, of the Bureau of Ento- 

 mology, who is stationed at Chico, Cal., gave 

 a short talk on the inspection on the Pacific 

 coast. He stated that he did not know of a 

 case of European foul brood in California, 

 but that the American foul brood was much 

 more virulent there than in the East or North. 

 Few inspectoi-s in California now recommend 

 the shaking treatment, as the time required 

 to treat the disease is of more value than the 

 bees destroyed. The method fast coming 

 into favor is that of boiling up the diseased 

 bees and combs in a large tank. Bee inspec- 

 tors, he said, are born, not made. It is an 

 easy matter to learn to detect the disease and 

 to effect a cure. Any man of ordinary in- 

 telligence can do this, but it is only a small 



